On 13 November 2010, Maersk Lancer was to depart from Esbjerg. While taking in the gangway, the lifting wire got stuck in one of the stanchions on the handrail on the gangway.

To get it loose two ship’s assistants entered the gangway and worked with the wire.
When it got loose, the handrail to the shore side fell in a sudden move into stowage position. One of the ship’s assistants lost his balance and fell off the gangway. He was not wearing a safety harness and fall arrest system. He fell approximately 5 metres to the pier.

Denmark’s Maritime Accident Investigation Board notes that the vessel departed earlier than planned and says that “Due to the earlier departure, the Injured Person and the watchkeeping ship’s assistant felt they were in a hurry and under stress… When working on the gangway, the IP normally used a safety harness and fall arrest, but he did not do so on this occasion due to stress and the problem with the lifting wire”.

That lapse under stress happened because a known problem with the gangway had not been fixed: “Due to a problem with the lifting wire getting caught on an eye of one of the stanchions
on the gangway, the IP and the ship’s assistant had to derogate from normal procedures.
The problem with the lifting wire getting stuck on an eye on a stanchion has occurred frequently on Maersk Lancer and is well known in other supply vessels in the company’s fleet using the same gangway system. The problem is usually solved without any problems”.Download full report
See also

A Filipino seafarer aboard the car carrier Yohjin died because he did not wear a fall-arrester while arranging stanchions on a gangway at Bremerhaven. He fell 5.5 metres to the quay wall, was still conscious when an ambulance arrived but died a few minutes later and resuscitation efforts failed.

It appears that he had been drinking ashore the evening before and had a high blood-alcohol level. He returned to the vessel at about, two and a half hours before going on duty.

The full report, currently only in German, is available from the Germany’s Bundesstelle für Seeunfalluntersuchung, Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation.